Robert Lewandowski was among the best players in the world when Barcelona moved to sign him in 2022. The Polish international was coming off multiple spectacular seasons with Bayern Munich, with his last spell there ending in 35 league goals in 34 games.
While absolutely outrageous, that was not his best season at Bayern. During the 2020/21 season, under Hansi Flick, Lewandowski ended up with a whopping 41 goals (and seven assists) in a mere 29 games, averaging a goal every hour.
He was also coming into this season on the back of a treble-winning campaign, during which he netted 34 times in the Bundesliga and 15 times in the UCL.
Ballon d’Or still on Lewa’s mind
Lewandowski never got the Ballon d’Or for this terrific season as France Football canceled the award because Ligue 1 was declared over due to COVID-19.
Speaking about the award, in hindsight, Lewandowski said (h/t Sportskeeda), “Of course I would like to win the Ballon d’Or one day. It’s not that I’m angry or sad that this award is still missing. But my feeling is that my turn would have come.”
He did defend Lionel Messi’s win in 2021, saying, “2021 was the year of Lionel Messi. But I’ve read that there are rumors about a Ballon d’Or award for 2020. This year was great for me, I was at the highest level, and we won everything.”
“If I get the 2020 Ballon d’Or in four years’ time, I certainly won’t be offended. It would be a great honor and I will accept the award,” he added.
While he says he understands that the 2021 award belonged to Messi due to his achievement with Argentina, winning the Ballon d’Or and playing an outrageous last campaign with Barcelona, Lewandowski still claims it to be his best season.
“In 2020/2021, I had the best years of my career. A friend recently sent me statistics saying I scored 100 goals in 85 matches.”
